


Shaftesbury Avenue

by measureinlove



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Theatre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:27:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28902630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/measureinlove/pseuds/measureinlove
Summary: As theatre lover Hermione prepares to join Ron and Harry for year 7, she says goodbye to her childhood home and some irreplaceable experiences in the Muggle world. 22 years later, she decides to make some new memories with her extended Wizarding family.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Shaftesbury Avenue

“Shaftesbury Avenue. I used to go to the theatre here with mum and dad….” - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Film

******

When Hermione slipped out the back door, she took one look back at her house which really hadn’t felt like home for quite some time. The people in it were a different story, of course, but now they too wouldn’t feel like home. The memory charm she had cast had been perfect, and she knew she would be able to reverse it if or when the time was right. However, she wasn’t sure that time would ever come. 

She walked slowly through the neighborhood and to the portkey that would take her to The Burrow. It was right where they said it would be. A small round bronze button hidden in the trees by a local playground. She was using an unregistered portkey that would help to keep her movement quiet. They suspected the Ministry was tracking apparition activity. Portkeys were a less monitored network.

She sat on a bench, waiting for the time when the portkey would activate and take her to Ron. She had brought a suitcase for show, but everything she truly needed was packed in a purple bottomless bag. She ran through the items once again knowing she could summon something from the storage facility she had rented a few short days ago. She had only put the most important items in this. Things she knew her parents and herself would be heartbroken to lose. Her baby book, photographs from summer trips, awards from her primary school before Hogwarts, and of course her theatre programmes. It started when she was very young. Before she was even in primary school. They took her to a local Shakespeare production for children, and she absolutely loved it. After that, she would bother the local librarians in her village for anything to do with Shakespeare and theatre. 

Before she knew there were true ghosts, Hamlet’s father’s words gave her chills. Before she knew she herself was a witch, the witches of Macbeth fascinated her. And long before she had any idea that one person could drive you mad and that you could also be mad for them, she met Benedick and Beatrice. When she found out that she was going to Hogwarts, she was beyond excited, but if there was on sliver of disappointment it was because she couldn’t study theatre in the upper levels with the Muggles. So, no one knew, but she kept reading her Muggle plays by the light of her wand when she needed a break from studying or the boys at Hogwarts. And her parents and her had kept up the tradition of going to London to see shows during all the holiday breaks they were together. It was always something they could look forward to and talk about which was important as both the Wizarding world and her education became more complex.

While she had packed most of the programmes up and safely away in the storage shed, she tucked away a few in the bottomless bag for safekeeping and to bring back memories. These were her very favorite shows. Ones that she had wanted to go back to again and again. Of course, with Harry and Ron to keep out of trouble that rarely happened. She felt lucky though that one summer her parents had allowed her to go off to London on her own, and she had been able to settle into a velvet seat in a familiar theatre, reliving the story. Always slightly different and yet the same. Day tickets perhaps allowed her to indulge in this activity even more than her parents knew. She would slip out during their work days or when plans were dashed due to a dental emergency. Attending alone, she would always bring a book with her. She would read a bit and then look around enjoying the atmosphere of an excited audience but mostly keeping to herself.

Once the show started, there was the added beauty of being surrounded by Muggles who were somehow able to see and believe magic on stage when they couldn’t see it all around them in real life. Maybe that’s why she loved it so much. The theatre Muggles could create magic out of makeup and sequins and wood and paint and lights and their beautiful voices. They didn’t need a wand to create something so magnificent. They did it all by hand and in person. She could learn every spell in the Hogwarts Library, but that just didn’t seem as impressive when all you did was wave your wand to accomplish something. She found it amazing when one actor made an entire audience laugh with just a simple step or word. She could only make Harry and Ron laugh sometimes, and nowadays even that was becoming difficult to do with all they were dealing with. 

There was a moment right before the end of the play when everyone realized that the spell was going to break. The last note of music might play. The last word spoken. And the lights would go down leaving the audience in the dark. They would sit in silence for a moment until the spell broke, and then they all responded with applause. It was that moment that she loved most, and she didn’t know how the Ministry of Magic allowed Muggles to be that close to magic on a regular basis. If she had to explain it to a wizard, she would say that it was akin to thousands of people casting fully formed patronuses in synchronization. 

She wasn’t sure when she would next see a show in a London theatre, and as she waited for her portkey time to tick down, she looked at her favorite programmes and felt rather sad about that. Even when it would be months between shows, Hermione often had at least one show booked and ready to look forward to. Now not only did she not have a single show booked, but the ones she saw mere weeks ago already felt so far in the past. She had no answers to the next time it would be safe enough to go see a show in London, but she thought it could be a very long time. A dark cloud rolled into her view above the small playground, and she stacked her programmes on top of one another. As she bent down to pick up a ticket stub that had fallen out of one, she thought about how she was glad to have this small connection to her Muggle world. Especially when her parents were no longer in reach. Even if she couldn’t be in the theatre any time soon, she could always look at these silly pieces of paper and have a memory of a better time. She tucked the pieces of paper, which would be worthless to anyone else, into the safety of her bag and stood up. It was time to make sure that her friends stayed safe…. 

22 years later….. 

It had been a tumultuous year, and one she had never expected to face, but now that it was truly over and the children were back from Hogwarts, Hermione decided that a trip to London was in order. She had arranged for the Ministry to have Muggle cars to pick them all up. Rose was bantering with Ron in the backseat who was humoring Hermione by even going. Sadly, Hugo had insisted on staying behind to work on items for his Ministry internship even though Hermione thought that an excuse from the Minister of Magic would suffice. Behind them in another black car were the entire Potter crew. It would be Lily’s first play, and from what Ginny had shared she was teeming with excitement. This made Hermione excited to think that she might have a niece as a companion for future shows. Draco and Scorpius were meeting them there as well. 

As everyone unloaded from the cars, they came upon the beautiful Palace theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. This was a show that Hermione had seen numerous times when work at the Ministry or the Wizarding World as a whole became too much, but there was something about it that made her think it would be a particularly good pick for the ordeal that both Scorpius and Albus had faced.  
“The Cursed Child?” James questioned as he raised an eyebrow skeptically.  
“There better be ice cream.” Ron chipped in.  
“It sounds a little dark, but don’t worry there’s plenty of humor.” Hermione responded.  
“Is it cursed or cursED?” Scorpius asked as Rose rolled her eyes at the geeky question.  
“All these Muggles….” Draco said wearily watching them as they swarmed into the theatre excitedly. 

Harry felt equally skeptical about the whole endeavor, but to be honest there was just something nice about being surrounded by masses of people who had no idea who he was. He slowed and savored the moment letting his family walk a few steps ahead. Albus noticed his father slightly lagging, “Come on, Dad, it’ll be an adventure if nothing else!” 

Hermione led the group into the theatre and stopped to purchase yet another programme. As she sat down in the red velvet seat, she opened her bag, accessed the secret pocket, and slipped the brochure and ticket in. She was certain this particular performance would be one of her favorites. And it was.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the 2019 Leaky Con Hermione Granger panel and whoever mentioned that the head cannon that Hermione was a theatre kid. Thank you to the past, present and future cast and crews of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.


End file.
